Dirigible automobile-lamp.



S. MFREEBORN.

DIRIGIVBLE AUTOMOBILE LAMP. APPLIOATIQN FILED AUG. 12, 1913,

1,097,087, Patented May 19, 1914.

Inventor by I Attorneys earns PATENT OFFICE.

sInNnY MILLS rnnnnonn, or SAN anronro, TEXAS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Ma 19, 1914.

Application filed August 12, 1913. Serial No. 784,391.

To all whom it may concern li e it known that I, SIDNEY M. FnnnnoRN, a citizen of the United States, residlng at is to provide such peculiar means for automatically operating the lamps, that the respective right and left hand lamps will be turned to the right and left, when the vehicle is steered either to the right or left,

while that lamp away from the side to which vehicle is turned will remain stationary.

A further object of the present invention is to provide means for automatically turning or swinging the lamps, as specified, and so operable under ordinary conditions, as to permit the steering wheels to wabblc or vibrate slightly due to the unevenness of the road bed or surface traversed, without cor- .respondingly vibrating or shaking the lamps.

The present invention also comprehends the provision of an apparatus for carrying the head lights or lamps, and of such simple and novel coi'istruction, as to be readily applicable to various automobile bodies, 01 to the steering gears thereof, and in order that the lamps may be operated automatically in an efficient and simple manner.

With the foregoing general objects outlined, and with other objects in view, which will be apparent as the nature of the invention is better"understood, the present invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construe tion hereinafter described and-claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodimentof the invention herein disclosed canbe made withinthe scope of What is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The invention has been illustrated in its preferred embodiment in the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a plan view of the front end of an automobile, illustrating the present apparatus applied to the steering gear.

Fig. 2 is a plan View of one of the lamp opcrating mechanisms, parts being broken away. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the mechanism depicted in F.ig. 2, parts being shown in section, and parts being broken away.

The automobile or motor car illustrated in Fig. 1 is to be taken as an arbitrary or conventional structure, it being understood at the outset, that the present device is applicable to various motor propelled vehicles, including a steering rod 1 connecting the front steering wheels 2.

The present apparatus embodies right and,

left hand mechanisms for carrying the re spective lamps or headlights, and the left hand mechanism illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, need only be described in detail to give a clear understanding of the two mechanisms.

Referring specifically to the left hand mechanism, the same embodies an upright sleeve or hearing 3. which is secured in any convenient manner to the chassis or bed of the automobile adjoining the left hand steering 'wheel. spindle 4 is journaled through the sleeve 3, and carries a suitable lamp bracket 5 at its upper end, to which is attached any suitable lamp or headlight 6. The shaft 4: is provided with a spiral or helical thread 7 engaging a corresponding groove 8 in the inner wall of the sleeve The thread 7 has a relatively large pitch, or is a quick thread and extends through approximately a single convolution only. The lower end of the groove 8 is closed, to provide a stop 9 against which the lower end of the thread 7 is seatable when the shaft 4 is depressed, in order to hold the lamp 6 in its proper forward position. normally depressed by means of a collar 10 threaded on the shaft 4. at a point below the sleeve 3, and a coiled spring ll compressibly disposed between the collar '10 and the lower An upright rock shaft or This shaft or spindle i is end "or extremity, as at 12, and upon the.

end of the slceve'3 wherehythe 'tensionof the spring 11 will yieldingly force the shaft 4 downwardly, to normal or initial position. The shaft or spindle 4 is preferably reduced;

in diameter-from the collar to its lower or ring -14: is mounted looselyf-on'there'" duced portion 12 of the shaft .4 slightly above the collar 13, and a coiled wirecompression spring 15 surrounds the'reduced portion 12 of the shaft between the collar 13 and thering- 14. Theflupper 'facc ofuthe ring 14 is in the form of a helix'or spiral as. at 16, and seats a gainst a radial lug or-finger.

17 formed on or secured to the reduced portions 12 of the shaft at a. pointspace-d slightly above the collar 13- or the lower end of the shaft. .The helicalor spiral face 16 of the ring l l'forms: ashoulder 18- co-.'

operating with the. lug or finger 17, the shoulder 18 being normally spar/ed slightly from the lug 1'7 when'the steering rod 1 is in itsneutral position, as will hereinafter appear The ring or collar 16 is provided,

with a pair of rearwardly projectingears 19, between which is lt'ulcrumcd the forward end of a rearwardly projecting arm 20." The arm or lever 20 passes over. the endportions oi the stecrnigro'd 1, and the rear or freeportlon of the arm 20 15 provided wltha longitudinal open slot 21, which is, curved slightly, for the purposes which will hereinafter appean. .he arm or lever 20 is operatively. connected with. the steering rod 1, as will be presently describeth An upstanding stem or finger 22 steering rod 1, the same upstanding from. the back or bend of a U -shap'ed clip 23 straddling the steering rod 1. The terminals'of the clip 23 are connected by a bolt or clamprigidly to the steering rod with the stem or\finger 22 in an upstanding or vertical position. The stem 22 passes through the slot 21 of tin-respective arm or lever 20, in ordcrthat when the steering rod is reciprocate-d latvi'all to swing or turn the steering wheels, the arm or lever 20 will beoscil lated accordingly. A. washer 25is mounted upon the stem 22 and engages the arm or lever 20, while a nut or stop 26 is threaded or engaged over the free or upper end of the stem. 22, a coiled wire compression spring 27 embracing the stem 22 between the washer 25 and the nut, or stop 26, t": yieldingly hold the arm 20 against the back or crest of the' clip 23. The axis of the stemor pin 22 is vertical, in order to permit the arm 20 to swing horizontally with respect to the steering rochwhile the arm 20 is so fulcrumed main cs7 is car-- ried by the respective cnd-portionof the.

betwecn'the earsltl, asto permit the arm.

"to swing vertically with respect to. the lamp] carrying shaft 1.

In the left hand lamp actuating mechanism, the thread 7 is righthanded, while in the right hand mechanism, the thread 7 'of the respectiveshaft is left 'h'anded, .whi cli is also true of the helicalor spiral faces 16'of the rings or -colla 14. it will thus be evidentfat this point, that the ,two mechanisms will 'operate in opposite directions, for'the purposes which will hereinafter appear. The-slot 21 of'the left hand arm or lever 20 is curved to the left, while'the slot2l' of the right hand arm i'irlcver is curved tothc' right. -It might be well to state that the inner ends of. fhe'lslots -21 'lie' in the longitudinalmedian lines of the respective arms said median lines, as above intimated.

'or'lev'ers 20, and theouter'or open endsof I theslots are curvedgently .awayfrom the 5 It isof course understoodthat the present sappa r'atus may beconst ruc't'ed invarious sizes and proportions so as to accon'imodatei the; various prevailing automobiles, and that such changes or alterations may be made, asm'ay be necessary-to accommodate the apparatus vto the various automobiles. without departing'from the s'piritof the invention, i

as defined in the appended clai1ns. Thus, the particular application of the apparatusas illustrated and described,is to be taken as typical or suggestive. p

Int-he operation of the devices as illustra tedand described, when the steering rod 1 inc is moved to the left, to steerthe vehicle. to the right, it being noted that the steering rod disposed-in rear of the front axle, the

The left hand arm or lever 20 being swung arms or levers '20 will'bc swung to the left.

shoulder 18 away from the lug or .liuger 17- of the corresponding-lamp carrying shall. n order that'the left hand lamp may remain Theright hand arm or lever 20 being swung toithe left, will cause the coirrespruulmg ring; or collar 14; to'be swunp clockwise, so as to swing the shoulder lhagainst the lugflor. finger 17,- thus swinging or oscillating the right hand shaft or spindle at, to turn or swing the. right hand lamp or hea'i'lliglit ll 'stat-ionaryso as t-o jshine straight forward.

toward theside to which the'machinc is turned or steered. Conversely, when the steering rod is moved to the right, to steer the vehicleto the left,'thc left handlamp, or headlight will beturned or directed to the left, while the right. hand lamp will re main stationary or in its forward position. In this manner, as the vehicle is steered,

.one lamp will "always be directed directly ahead or forwardly, while the other lamp .is turned to the side toward whichthe vehicle is steered, both lamps being directed 4 'sprin noeaosr' described, the thread 7 will travel upwardly within the groove 8 of the-corresponding sleeve or bearing 3, so as to not only rotate or turn the bracket 5 and lamp 6 carried thereby, but to also move the shaft or spindle upwardly against the tension of the g 11 This is desirable for the reason that when the steering rod is brought back to neutral or normal position, the spring ll in recoiling will depress the shaft which has been swung out of normal position, in order to turn the shaft back to normal, the thread 7 sealing on the stop 9 to limit the movement of the shaft 4, as indicated. In this connection, it will be evident that the arms or levers 20 being pivoted or fulcrumed to the rings or collars 14 will permit the shafts to more or reciprocate vertically, without afl ectingthe operation. of the arms or levers, and furthermore, the arms or levers 20 being held yieldingly upon' the stems 22, by the springs 27, will be permitted to swing sufiiciently upon the clips or clamps 23, so that the proper operation may ensue as above described. a

Another salient or cardinal feature of the present invention resides in the fact that the shoulders 18 are normally spaced slightly from the lugs or fingers 17, which will permit the steering rod to reciprocate or vibrate slightly, due to the wabble or play of the steering wheels under ordinary conditions, without correspondingly vibrating or shaking the lamps, as would be ob jcctionable. When the arms or levers 20 are swung so as to move the shoulders 18 away from the fingers 17, the helical or spiral facesflG will move under the respective lugs or fingers 17,'so as to force the respective rings or collars l6 downwardly,

against the tension ofv the springs 15. The lost motion provided by the play between the shoulders 18 and the lugs 17 is taken up by the curved slots 21 of the arms or levers 20,-when the respective arms or levers are swung so as to swing the respective lamps. For instance, when'the left hand lever 20 is swung to the right, by the steering rod, the stem or pin' 20 moving outwardly along the respective. slot 21, will cause" the shaft t to be swung with. an accelerated motion, that is, with an increasing velocity, in order that the lamp may swing approximately parallel with the steering wheels.

From the foregoing, taken in connection with the drawing, the advantages and capabilities of the present apparatus will be apparent to those versed in the art, without the necessity or further explanation, it being noted that the objects aimed athave been carried out satisfactorily, and that the pres ent ingrention provides a desirable and efficient apparatus for the purposes pointed out.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. In a device of the character described, a sleeve attachable to an automobile bed, a lamp carrying rock shaft threaded through the sleeve, an actuating lever pivoted to the rock shaft, and means attachable to the steering rodof the automobile, and with which the lever is slidablyand pivotally engaged.

2. In a device of the character described, a sleeve attachable to the bed of an automobile, a spring pressed lamp carrying rock shaft threaded through the sleeve and limited in its movement by the sleeve, a member mounted loosely on the shaft, a lever carried by the said member, means adapted to be carried by the steering rod of the automobile and with which the lever is slidably engaged, and coiiperating means carried by the said member and shaft for rocking the shaft against the tension of its spring when the lever is swung in one direction. I

3. In a device of the character described, a sleeve attachable to the bed of an automobile, a lamp carrying rock shaft threaded through-the sleeve and limited in its movement thereby, a spring disposed between the sleeve and shaft for yieldi-ngly holding the shaft in normal position, a collar mounted 10o loosely on the shaft, a lever carried by the collar,-and means adapted to be carried by the steering rod of the automobile and with which the lever is slidably engaged, the collar and shaft having cooperating portions for rocking the shaft when the lever is swung in one direction.

4. In a device of the character described, a sleeve attachable to the bed of an automobile, a spring-pressed lamp carrying rock shaft threaded through the sleeve and limited in movement thereby,..a collar loosely embracingthe shaft, the collar and shaft having a cooperating shoulder and lug, re-

spectively, a slotted leverpivoted to the col- 11,5.

lar, and a stem adapted to be carried by the steering rod of the automobile to engage the slot of the lever.

5. In a device of the character described,

a sleeve attachable to the bed of an auto- 12() mobile, a spring pressed lamp carrying rock shaft threaded through the sleeve 'and limited inmovement thereby, a collar loosely embracing the shaft, the collar and shaft having a cooperating shoulder and lug, respectively, a slotted leverpivoted to the collar, a clip attachable to the steering rod'of the automobile, and having an upstanding stem to engage the slot of the lever, and a spring carried by the free portion of the lee i -stein to yieldinglyho'ld the lever against the" -elip..- 6. In a device of the'charaeter described,

a sleeve attachable to thehody of an automobile, a spring pressed lamp-carrying shaft t-hrea ded through'the sleeve and limited in movement thereby, a collar loosely embracingthe shaft and havinga spiral 'liace forming a shoulder, a shaft having a lug coiiperating with the said shoulder and the shaft for yieldrests, means carried lar against the said.

ingly holding the co aclapted to be carried by the steering rod of the automobile end with is slidably engaged. l 1 H 7.111 a device of the character, described,

avhieh the lever a sleeve attachable to the bed. of an mm mobile, :1 spring pressed lamp-carrying shaft threaded through the sleeve, a collar loosely" embracing the shaft,theco1lar and shaft having a eoeperating normally spaeed shoulder and lug; respectively, a slotted lever pivoted to the collar, and a Storm adapted to be carried by the steering roclof the nuto- 1 mobile to engage the slot-ofthe lever, the

{said slot 'being' curved. against which the said lace of the collar 1n testlmon that Witnesses; N. S. KELLER, F. G. ANTONIO.

I claim.the foregoing I as myown, Ihave hereto affixed my sigua- I ture in the presence of two witnesses. lug, a lever pivoted. to the collar, and means 

